The Secret They Never Told
by Ellanore Rising
Summary: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Nobody told us there were OTHER allies of the Animorphs! Is it really possible... And why would they keep such a thing a secret! R&R, please! Rated for language... And possibly lemons and/or limes. Not sure yet!
1. The Leader

My name is Jake.

And I was in deep shit, I realized as I looked at the small group of teenagers in front of me.

Only composed of four kids, some of which had to be younger than me, stood there, battle scared and bleeding, just staring at me. Finally, one of the boys stepped foreword.

"Well… this is awkward," he said. "But I guess it's high time you guys learn that you're not alone. You have allies, guys."

"Yeah, but we didn't know you were _human,_" the only girl interjected, flipping her white-blond curly hair behind her shoulder. "We thought you were all those blue deer-aliens!"

I couldn't be sure, but I think that Ax, who was flying overhead, was offended at being called a "blue deer-alien."

I am not a blued deer-alien, he said. I am an Andalite _arsith_, a warrior!

I was glad he was using private thought-speech. I couldn't be sure if they were telling the truth, but the idea of scaring these kids off when they claimed to be our allies seemed pretty damn foolhardy.

I crossed my arms. There was no guaranteeing they weren't controllers. But, given how they had just saved all of our sorry asses, I had to give them some leeway.  
>"Where are you from? Who are you?"<p>

"New York," the guy with the red hair said. He had a spray of freakles across his face, and despite myself, I was reminded of the saying that gingers had no souls. This guy looked pretty cold. "Upstate, not city. And I'm James."

"Jesse," said the guy who spoke first. He had a strong face, and a look in his eyes that said quite plainly he'd seen too much too early in his life. It was no wonder he acted as their leader. I felt some respect growing for this guy, as well as a kind of twisted kinship. We both had to make those life-or-death decisions.

The last guy who had jet black hair that I assumed was dyed introduced himself as Alfred. My eyes lingered on him for a bit. It wasn't a gay thing, just interest. He was wearing a tight black shirt and I knew that Rachel and Cassie had to be staring at his ass. Why else would they be circling around him overhead?

My eyes fell on the girl last. She was pretty unremarkable. Skinny, and on the shorter side, her curls fell down to the small of her back. But that was about it in terms of looks. Maybe it was the fact she had raccoon eyes from heavy makeup and lack of sleep, but this girl was pretty plain in my eyes. But she stood up straight and proud, and some part of her screamed that she wasn't a push over.

"I'm Tara," she said. "You don't happen to have any girls in your group, do you?"

I felt myself stiffen.

"You can talk to me just fine."

Tara groaned. "It's not that. I need to find a drug store."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Are you on something?"

"Uh… In a way…"

"Why do you need to go to the drug store?"

"Fine, I'll shout it. I AM ON MY PERIOD AND NEED A GOD DAMN TAMPON!"

"Rachel, take the girl to the drug store..." I said, feeling my eye start to twitch. Too much information. Way, way too much information.

Rachel flew down and demorphed from her eagle. She was making an odd noise that sounded like she was choking. As soon as she got her lips and vocal chords back, I realized what the sound was. She was laughing at me. I grimaced.

"Do you have money?" I asked Tara. "We can't really morph with it..."

"Yeah, I have money," Tara said before taking Rachel's proffered arm and walking towards town with her.

"Follow them, Tobias," I muttered.

Without a sound, Tobias spread his wings and flew off in the direction Rachel and Tara had gone in. I saw Jesse raise his eyebrow.

"Any reason you're having this Tobias guy stalk them?"

"First off, I haven't decided if I can trust you all yet. And second, he's a _nothlit_ and spends most of his time in surveillance. He knows most of the controllers in the area, and can warn them if somebody is tailing them."

Jesse nodded.

"Fair enough," he acknowledged. "I'd be doing the same thing, if it was reversed. I don't blame you one bit. Though I am curious as to what a _nothlit_ is."

"How did you hear about us?" I asked, ignoring his implied question. I nodded Marco and Ax down. No need to let them know about Cassie just yet. Keep a trump card if they proved untrustworthy.

"That's a long story," Jesse said. I noted that James and Alfred didn't hide their amazement as they watched Marco and Ax demorph, and even Jesse seemed interested. At least, until Ax resumed his Andalite form.

"YAH!" James cried, reaching for his belt.

Jesse stopped him, though.

"Calm down, James," he said. "That's not Visser Three. He's way too small."

"Ax is a lot younger." I supplied as Ax seemed to huff behind me. "And we definitely have time to hear your story."

Jesse nodded and looked to the sky.

"I guess it all really started when James and I saw Tara getting hauled downstairs at school…"

For them, it all started in 1997, about a year after Elfangor crash-landed in front of us. None of them really knew each other. James was new, and Jesse was stuck showing him around the school. It was in between periods when they saw a guy who was in the grade above them pulling some girl into the basement. Jesse recognized her from a few of his classes. Tyra, or Kara or something like that.

Whatever her name was, she was putting up one hell of a fight. She was a tiny thing, but the guy had to use both hands and his considerable muscles were bulging from the effort of dragging her through the school.

Finally, he threw her over his shoulder.

The girl screamed and started pounding her hands and feet. Probably trying to get his ribs or diaphragm, Jesse realized.

"We've got to help her," James had said, pale as a sheet. "He's probably gonna rape her or something…"

Jesse nodded and grabbed the first thing he could. AKA, his science textbook. He handed James his math book, and the two guys followed the guy and girl, expecting to see him throw her onto the ground and rip her clothes off any second.

When a door opened up where a wall should have been, the guys froze.

And the girl screamed. In her panic, her fingernails left bloody marks on the man's back and neck. Her feet pounded his front, and Jesse thought he heard her screaming that she wouldn't go back.

The guys exchanged a look before springing foreword and clonking him on the head at the same time. Not suspecting it, the giant lug crumpled to the ground unconscious.

The girl scrambled to her feet, still screaming. James grabber her and covered her mouth. "Shhhhhh! You're making too much noise!"

The girl sobered up enough for Jesse to catch a glimpse of her terrified ice blue eyes. That was before the yelling started down the stairs.

"OH, MY GOD, THEY'RE COMING!" she cried, looking around frantically. People started flowing up the stairs. The girl bolted upstairs, with James and Jesse right behind her.

James never got the chance to start school. The girl ran through the streets, which were pretty much empty in the middle of the day, and onto a trail in the hills surrounding their town.

When she was sure nobody was following them, gave a short "follow me," before leading them off the trail. It had to take three or four hours before she came to a stop in front of a small wooden shack. Completely covered by the trees, it seemed the perfect hiding spot. And fun, too. The shack was built a good ten feet off the ground with a rope ladder leading up to it. The roof had tree branches tied down so they looked natural, but still provided a perfect cover. Somehow, Jesse didn't think it was as run-down as it appeared.

"Thank God they haven't sent any Taxxon trackers after me… If they did, I'd be screwed. I'm Tara, by the way. You're Jesse, I know that, but I don't know you."

"James," he said, looking at Tara oddly. "My name is James."

"James… Nice to meet you, James. James, James, James. Like James Potter. I have to remember that. James, James, James."

James gave her an odd look.

"Sorry…" Tara trailed off as a guy not much older than them walked in. His hair was blond, and he dressed all in black. And judging by the Dracon Beam on his hip, Tara realized with horror, he was a controller.

A/N: Yes, yes, I'm evil, to leave it at a cliffie like that! :D

I do not own Animorphs. If I did, Rachel would be alive… And not, ya know, freaking insane?


	2. Protect the Girl

"So, I found you, Tara."

"Go away," Tara said, backing up. "Get outta here!"

The blond boy reached to his belt and pulled out his Dracon beam.

"Come on, now, little miss Tara. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, to use that despicably human expression. And I don't think you want to do it the hard way. It would scar that pretty little face of yours. We all know how you don't want that pretty face scared."

Tara was shaking. Terrified. James and Jesse didn't know what was going on, but they did know that they were in way over their heads.

_We're up shit creek without a paddle…_ Jesse thought. He noticed that James was looking at him as if for instruction. Wonderful, he was in charge now?

"Protect the girl," he muttered. "She's important to this whole equation somehow…"

"I'll explain everything if you guys get me out of _this_ mess, too," the girl named Tara muttered.

_No real option, here_, Jesse found himself thinking. _It's live or die. We already put our necks out there to keep her safe. We'll die if she does now._

He nodded at James. Time to play hero, he supposed.

"I found them!" the guy who recognized Tara shouted. "I found Tara and-"

Tara tackled him at that, effectively silencing him.

"Grab him!" she shrieked, holding him down despite his bucking and rolling. "We can't let him go now!"

James ran inside her hut as Jesse went to help Tara hold the guy down. He was shouting what Jesse could only assume was cursing in some weird language.

"Oh, shut up…" Tara muttered, cramming some leaves into his mouth, effectively muffling him. James then ran outside with some rope.

"Give it," Jesse directed and proceeded to tie the guy on the ground up with his arms behind his tied a cord around his mouth after pulling the leaves out.

"We took too much time," Tara said when they heard faint voices in the woods below them. "They're onto us."

"We're gonna have to take this moron," James said.

Tara nodded.

"Hear that, ya damn Yeerk? We're gonna take you with us."

"What is a-"

"No time. Let's go."

Two days later.

He was writhing on the ground deep in an underground cavern underground. He'd been that way for a few hours now. Tara swore that the Yeerk was dying, but with this guy crying out in pain, it was hard to believe.

Inside his own head, Alfred watched in half-horror, half relief as the Yeerk slowly starved to death. He had started gaining some control of his body back, little by little. At the moment, all he could do was move his eyes, but that was enough to find what was going on. Glancing to his left, he was Tara keeping half an eye on him and watching a movie on he laptop. Noise-cancelling earbuds effectively blocked out his moans and cries of pain. Knowing Tara, it was probably some weird kids movie.

She glanced at him. She seemed to melt a bit.

"Alfred, you're there, right?" she asked, tugging the earbuds out. "Well, hell, I know you can't answer that, but here, watch this." She pulled on the cord and it came out of the earphone jack. Clicking play on her media player, Alfred found out she was right.

_Typical Tara…_ he thought, watching some characters from the Animaniacs singing about a "Wishing Star." But even if it was childish, it was something to watch. The Yeerk even took a bit of comfort in it. His hunger was raging and unstable, but the movie at least distracted him. No doubt Tara knew that, but it was a trade-off she was willing to do.

He glanced up at Tara. Even now, her face dirty and sleep-deprived, she had a determined look to her. Her hair, so blond it was white, hung languid in her face and she looked as if she'd lost weight since he'd last seen her.

Sailing through the slush,

In a wind-blown sled,

Down the road we mush,

Dot is still in bed.

I'm getting really bored,

I've read this magazine,

If we don't get there soon,

I think I'm gonna scream!

Oh, Wishing Star, from above,

Dot is getting worse!

Be a sport and grant our wish

Or we'll sing another verse!"

At least, that was what he thought they were saying. He had never been able to keep up with the Animaniacs singing speed.

An hour later, the Yeerk crawled out of his ear and shriveled up and died.

"That's some story," I said. "But not really that long."

"Well… I guess it took longer in real life…" Jesse muttered, looking a bit embarrassed. "So, yeah. Ending of the story short, Al joined up with us because of Tara."

"I knew there was more to her," Marco said. "No guy is even lucky enough to just meet a girl randomly and have her team up with him."

"She needed our help," Albert said. "She used to be a controller. She needed us to protect her… because if we didn't, who would?"

"She used you," I said.

"Yes, she did use us," Jesse allowed. "She used us and manipulated us. But she never lied."

"She didn't exactly tell the truth, either…" James muttered.

"She _omitted_ the things. She didn't lie." Jesse asserted. "She just… didn't tell the whole truth is all. She's never lied to us. And she was scared at the beginning."

"Yeah, but Al _would_ side with her," James said. "He-"

"Shut up, James! It's not your business. Or your place to tell!"

"I walked in on them screwing each other," James said, rolling his eyes. "And saying they loved each other and all that. They were together when he was a controller himself. We never thought they actually liked each other, though, after he was freed."

With a howl, Albert leapt at James. Jesse caught him and pulled him away before his hands could reach the guy's throat.

"She's a bitch," James said, jerking away and straightening his clothes. "But you're worse, Al. You _know_ she is, and you still side with her. Still fuck her and go to pick her up when she's stranded somewhere in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, and ya know what, James, you fucking bastard? I love him." Tara said, coming out of the woods with a grinning Rachel behind her. Rachel _would_ like that, too. God only knows she was the master of manipulation. Or, at least, she usually managed to get what she wanted. She'd certainly managed to snag Tobias.

When I looked at her, gone was the image of the terrified girl that I'd held only a few minutes ago. Now what I saw was a strong young woman who had seen way too much, and who had been through way too much pain in her short life. In her hand she held onto a small purse that I recognized as the bag Rachel used a few years back.

Tobias flew in and roosted in a tree.

James had lost his bravado when Tara slauntered into the clearing, and if I didn't know better, I'd say he was afraid of her.

"And ya know, that wasn't really fair. Al always _liked_ me, even when he was a controller. And that Yeerk decided to play on that. I guess it was easier to pluck it from his mind what he wanted to do to me instead of coming up with it on his own."

"And I _never_ touched her. Not until I was free."

Tara nodded. But I still got the feeling there was something they weren't telling.

A/N: Like? Hate? Need to get on with the damn story? Well, yes to the last. But besides that, I'll get on with it, I swear! After Christmas… Because I've got a few projects to squish into the next five days, and on top of that all I have surgery on my knee…


End file.
